Crystal Paths
by WhiteBirdAolen
Summary: With the awakening of the corrupted crystals, the heroes having fought for light and order once more must return. From all worlds, they gather to restore peace in a world falling into chaos. Rating: T.
1. Hall Of Heroes

Their steps echoed through the grand hall as they entered the little sanctum. Soft glowing lights were magnified by a variety of crystal statues, all of them looking oddly serene and radiating something quite calming. Vanille smiled to herself as she strolled along the statues, to then stop in front of the one at the far back.

"Hey, Fang, I think I found him!" Fang, accompanied by Lightning, Serah and Snow, smirked slightly as she read the inscription engraved into the stone pillar this special statue was standing on. She nodded in content, stepping back a little.

"Yep, that's him alright. That's Minwu, a white mage with all of his heart."

"I wonder why he became crystal. I mean, from what I've heard, he never was branded by a Fal'Cie."

Snow had cocked his head to one side and stared up at the crystal statue of this strange man, as if he tried to figure out by looking at it alone. But as there was only the inscription, he wouldn't really have any success. "Well, there are rumors that with the whole messing of the time line, there were some of other eras having been called by the Fal'Cie, as they hold a certain potential."

Lighting stretched out her hand, trailing her fingertip along the inscriptions. It was strange to see her this focused, this relaxed at the same time and thoughtful. She didn't seem to be too convinced, but it might have been the only explanation somehow fitting.

"Then how comes he really is here? After all, the time line is back to normal."

"Maybe... he has a focus to fulfill here. I mean, if the Fal'Cie branded him after all..."

Serah narrowed her eyes lightly, then pointed at the man's hands. There was something a bit odd about them, but she couldn't name it right away. "I think he was holding something when he was turned to crystal. You see that? He holds his hands like a bowl."

The others nodded, Vanille making a quite thoughtful face then. "I think I saw something which would fit into that." Fang furrowed here eyebrows, giving Vanille a questioning look. What on Earth could that have been? After all, there was not really much in this little temple that could fit into those hands, except for maybe...

"Do you think _Minwu's Tear_ would fit into them?"

"Yep!"

Vanille then looked up at the crystal, a secretive smile on her face. "I think he was leaving it behind for others to use it." Serah had to chuckle lightly at that, nudging Vanille lightly. "So, he left behind this crystal like I did with the crystal tear, right?" Vanille nodded cheerfully, turning towards the corridor between the crystal statues again.

"Let's ask if we may try out something with it!"

"Do you really think that's a wise idea?"

"Well, just asking doesn't hurt now, does it?"

Snow chuckled and shook his head lightly, but then let himself be tugged along by Serah. Fang sighed, and Lighting shrugged at that. "Well, Vanille has a point there. Let's see if the priests would let us try that." Though, they never made it down more than half of the corridor.

Out of the blue, two sinisterly sneering males appeared, making the five stop dead in their tracks. "What the...?" Fang and Lightning immediately readied their weapons, Snow protectively standing in front of Serah, who along with Vanille had frozen completely. "Who are you two?"

They didn't answer, but then, the white-haired male of them extended his hand and revealed the shimmering _Minwu's Tear_. "H-Hey! That's a relic of the temple, you can't just take it!" Vanille was honestly angered about such behavior, but the two strangers could only laugh at such things.

"What, this little thing is a relic? No, it can't be."

"But look there, Palmecias, there's Minwu."

"You're right, Garland... there indeed is this white mage, frozen to crystal. How very interesting."

The male having been addressed to as Palmecias snickered as he played around with the small crystal, which was floating above his palm and shimmering in deep azure blue. "How interesting to meet him again here. So Chaos was right, there is something special about this place."

That surprised not only Lightning and Serah, but all of them. "What...? But it can't be, there's no way..." Lightning whispered, stepping back a little. Palmecias snickered once more, then carelessly threw the crystal up, which was caught by Vanille. "There is a way indeed. The corrupted crystals led us here, and I must say, there is so much appeal in this world. There would be even more if Chaos ruled it."

With that, and such ominous prospects, the two intruders vanished once more, leaving the five of them confused and a little shocked. Vanille thoughtfully stared at the crystal, then up at the others still being confused. "What did he mean by that? Is... is there _yet another threat_ for Cocoon?"

Lightning shook her head, carefully taking over the crystal. "No, I think there's more about it. Far more than we would like." She carried the crystal over to Minwu's statue, sighing to herself. "But even so, we need to immediately intervene. We can't let anyone have his way with our world now, can we?"

The others all nodded, a smile on their face. "We managed two times, so we will do it a third time, too." Serah stated, and Snow added: "After all, the true heroes never die, and they surely never rest either." Fang gave him a light smack with her staff, but then tapped against the crystal, making it float up to the statue. "Well, we'll soon know what role Minwu will play, won't we."

The crystal shimmered briefly, then began radiating brilliant light. It wasn't exactly blinding, but still slightly uncomfortable to the eyes. They could only watch through their fingers as the crystal statue slowly came back to life, floating in the air like the small _Minwu's Tear_, which responded to the soft glow radiating from the awakening.

They stepped back as Minwu came down slowly, wrapped up in strange, flowing white clothes. He was unconscious still, sinking to the ground gently and looking like he wouldn't wake up too soon. Vanille knelt down next to the unmoving male, looking him over.

"He surely has something strange about him... something... _gentle_... and something calm, too."

"As far as I know, he is a white mage, one with great natural talent. So, well, it could be an explanation for that."

"Maybe, yes, but we should ask him when he wakes up."

Slowly, Minwu began to stir, blinking drowsily up at the people around him. "Firion...?" he muttered, groaning in light dizziness. "I'm sorry, but there's no Firion around here." Vanille gave back softly, closing her hand around the dazed mage's. "But we are here, and we will take care of you."

Minwu smiled gently, the cloth supposed to cover half of his face having slipped down to reveal a quite handsome face. "I see. So I really fell into a long sleep. This strange being having given me this mark said that such a thing would happen after I fulfill... what did it call it? _Focus_, I believe."

Fang nodded, showing her own faded brand. "You were made a l'Cie. They have quite... special thoughts on who they chose for their cause." Minwu cocked his head to one side, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. "They? Who are _they_, anyway?"

It took quite some time for them to explain everything to him, and as he showed his own faded mark, they understood he had overcome a focus he had been forced into. "So, basically, we are all in the same boat now, huh?" Snow grinned, earning a quite radiant smile from Minwu. "Anyway, I would like to help you in any respect. Since Garland and Palmecias showed up, there's no time to lose, is there."


	2. In A New World

_Minwu soon enough found his place in our world. He surely was surprised to see how greatly it differed from the world he used to know, in so many respects, be it our daily life or the legends we told each other in the evening, to keep us entertained and give us a reason to hope. Chaos was once more threatening us all, but we all knew that we could win this fight. [Vanille]_

The wind brushing through his hair was one thing Minwu liked best about this new strange world. The long time in crystal sleep had taught him to appreciate these little things in life much more than he ever would have cared about. Then again, he as white mage always had had a different relationship to the nature around him, and everything it brought along.

His old clothes had changed in the few days he was awake already, and they surely fit him well enough. A pair of loose white pants, a white top, and the obligatory white cloth sometimes covering half of his face. He pulled it down occasionally, though, as it seemed somewhat impolite to keep his face covered like that.

He most of the time was talking with Serah, if he had something to tell. Minwu was a quiet character, but one with a smile for everyone. The children especially liked him, because he knew about some tales they never heard about. Serah supposed they were from his world, and had to admit she liked them pretty much.

"So, how did you end up in crystal sleep? I thought you weren't a l'Cie, right?"

"I don't know. Shortly before I climbed the tower to get to the _Ultima_ spell, something touched me. It could have been one of those you call Fal'Cie, but I'm not sure."

"The _Ultima_ spell... was it that important that you put yourself to crystal sleep?"

"In our world, it's one of the mightiest spells ever having existed. But I assume your version of _Ultima_ is not as powerful?"

"No, it's a pretty weak spell, strangely enough. It's almost as if Chaos learned something and weakened it, isn't it?"

"That might be right, but we'll see. Maybe we can restore its strength somehow."

Restoring the power of a spell such as _Ultima_? Serah wasn't too convinced, but then again, her time traveling experiences with Noel had shown her that quite something was possible. She then nodded, giving Minwu an encouraging smile. As if she wanted to tell him that they surely would find a way. And Minwu looked like he was pretty convinced by that smile.

Aside from such conversations, Minwu didn't consider himself as too useful. He may was assisting in fighting off all those monsters threatening the village now and then, but more than that wasn't really happening. He enjoyed strolling around, being by the beach, or just meditate by the water until the waves would lick at his toes and wake him from his trance.

Sometimes, he would talk with Lightning, or rather discuss where they should start searching for the ones having committed themselves to serve Chaos. They couldn't really decide where to start, though, and something told Minwu that the world he had come to was changing with the influence of darkness spreading. They had to find ways to awaken more of the many heroes light had chosen in those many worlds and epochs, and then, maybe, they would find an answer.

Now and then, they would quarrel for a while, just to find themselves laughing about themselves. Really, what where they thinking? Even if time seemed to work against them, it in some way was working _for_ them. Rushing everything would only serve them to run into one trap after the other, as much as Snow loathed their waiting. Minwu urged them to have patience, and he even managed to convince ever-impatient Snow to take his time.

On one of his walks through the soft grassy plains around the village, Minwu noticed that something was in the air. Not necessarily a smell, a sound, or anything visible, but more likely a feeling. It was as if it flowed right into his body, and at the same time through it. Closing his eyes, Minwu remained standing in the middle of the clearing, just waiting while this feeling grasped more of his being.

"Minwu? Minwu, can you hear me?" It wasn't any voice he had heard in this new world, but one he had known for quite some time already. He smiled gently, bowing his head lightly. "I can hear you, Leon." he muttered, feeling relief flooding him. He understood now... Leon was close, in some way, and was talking with and _through_ him.

"I'm so glad I finally found you. We were worried when you were separated from us. This whole _Focus_ thing really was hard to wrap our minds around." Minwu chuckled lowly, nodding to himself. "It surely is hard to understand, but once you understood, everything is quite clear." He almost could see how Leon pulled a slight grimace, annoyed by the white mage. Only a little, but still enough to make him wish he wouldn't have elaborated.

"Anyway, where have you gone to? You are not sleeping any longer, are you?" Minwu shook his head, then realized that Leon might not notice that. "I'm quite awake, Leon, but I would prefer to be with you and the other rebels again. Where are you now?" Hesitation, paired with doubt and slight fear. "I don't know where I am, or if anyone is with me. We only saw you being carried away by _something_, but not more. I surely wished I could tell you more."

Minwu sighed softly, shrugging then. "As it seems, we still have to work on something, I can't go looking for you now." Leon seemed to be anxious a little, but there really was nothing Minwu could have done about this situation. "Look, I'm sorry, Leon, but I need to stay here. They need me and my abilities. But I swear that I will come and find you."

A relieved sigh, and as suddenly as this feeling had come over Minwu, it faded again, leaving the white mage dazed and a little sad. So Leon and the other rebels had fallen into crystal sleep, too? Then there was a more important question to answer still... _where_ had they fallen asleep, or rather brought to after having fallen asleep?

"Minwu? What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, hello Fang. I was just wandering around... and then I felt something."

"Felt something, huh. And what was it that our great white mage felt there?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it, but for a short time, I was... I was _connected_ with someone I know from my world. Apparently, he and his friends have fallen into the same sleep as me, and now are waiting to be awoken again."

"I see. You surely have some impressive abilities, Minwu."

Minwu smiled bashfully, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not that impressive, really." he muttered, looking away from Fang, who was smirking cockily. "Oh, I don't know, you are just the most powerful medic I ever saw?" Minwu laughed lightly, shaking his head. "Oh, please, you are flattering me. I'm not this overly important now, am I? I'm just as important as anyone else, so, there's nothing to it."

They sat down in the grassy patch, Fang with her staff ready to strike at any monster, should they be surprised by one. "You can claim whatever you like, Minwu, but I still think that you are someone we could never do without. I mean, just look at you. You may look a little weak, but you are stronger than most of us, if it comes to magic." Minwu shrugged, leaning back and gazing up at the sky. "As I said, it's nothing special. If I would learn _Ultima_ and restore its full power, then that would be a reason to be impressed."

Fang shrugged lightly, giving Minwu a questioning look. "Is that what you and Serah talked about? I just happened to catch bits and pieces of your conversation, so..." Minwu chuckled, but then nodded. "We indeed were talking about _Ultima_. I heard that in this world, it's a much weaker spell than in mine. My idea was that we might find a way to give it the same strength as in my time and world, and like this have a spell with quite the impact at our disposal."

Not looking too convinced, Fang scratched around in the soft underground. "That might be true, but how are we supposed to find out where _Ultima_ has lost its original strength? We can't just go around and travel through time, hoping that we 'accidentally' trip over the solution and call it done." Minwu shook his head, seeming to think about something. "I guess... a library in the far past would be our first place to look for it. We just need to find out where the biggest library was, and at what time."

Fang rolled her eyes, but smiled broadly. "You surely don't give up too easily, do you." Minwu snickered, lifting slowly and offering Fang his hand, to then pull her to her feet easily. "That might be. I can't judge it for myself. But one thing is sure, we will need anything making us stronger for this task. It might be one of the biggest fights we will have to pick up against darkness."

While they wandered back to the village, Fang and Minwu bickered a little, laughing about all the little stories they could tell about their friends. It wasn't anything bad, was it? They were all sitting in the same boat, preparing for yet another battle against darkness. Even in this new world, so strange and luscious to Minwu, he couldn't forget about what darkness had brought about.

_'But it isn't all just destruction and suffering. Darkness has its friendly side, too. We just forgot about it.'_


End file.
